'Getting back into the groove has been challenging' - Lynn

This season, Kolkata Knight Riders' opening combination has been fluid. While Sunil Narine opened their batting in three of their first four games, the team opted for Robin Uthappa to open alongside Chris Lynn against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The flexibility, Lynn feels, allows Knight Riders' top three the best chance to combat whatever type of bowling the opposition may throw at them.

Narine has scored his runs at a strike rate of 194.59 this season, but his weakness against fast, short-pitched bowling was perhaps a reason behind Uthappa slotting in as opener against Sunrisers' new-ball combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Billy Stanlake.

"Obviously one's left-handed, one's right-handed. Sunny is obviously very aggressive whereas Robbie is very technical and likes to build his innings so they are two different types of players," Lynn told KKR.in following Knight Riders' loss to Sunrisers on Saturday. "But for us, it's about communicating about who's bowling, whether it'll be a fast bowler or a spin bowler, and making sure our communication and match-ups against those bowlers is spot on.

"If we do lose a wicket, it's about consolidating and batting with the guy at the other end, making sure you're taking down your strengths, rather than trying to bat against your weakness."

On a personal note, Lynn has had an underwhelming start to IPL 2018. After four games, Lynn has scored 107 runs at a strike-rate of 122.98, well below his career T20 figure of 147.27. Having played no cricket for over a month thanks to a dislocated shoulder, Lynn said returning to competitive cricket and using a shoulder brace while batting have been "challenging". But he backs himself to score big runs as the season progresses.

"Yeah, it's been challenging," Lynn said. "Having not played for six weeks, getting back into the groove has taken me a couple of games. So it was nice to get some runs the other night [49 against Sunrisers] and I'm primed to keep churning out the runs now.

"Obviously, getting used to batting with the shoulder brace, feeling comfortable with it, is very important. But I think I've found a way, and hopefully good things are just around the corner."